The present invention is directed towards a self-feeding device for handicapped persons, and more particularly to a self-feeding device for a person who can move his head but not necessarily his arms and feet.
A self-feeding device of the foregoing type is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,734,306 issued to the inventor of the present invention. While the foregoing device represents a major improvement over the self-feeding devices of the prior art, it has several drawbacks.
In the self-feeder of the foregoing patent, a spoon holding and lifting mechanism automatically moves a spoon between a lower position located adjacent a plate containing a meal to be eaten and an upper position located adjacent the mouth of the operator (the handicapped person) of the self-feeding device. The primary drawback of this self feeder is that food is pushed onto the spoon by the handicapped person using a specially designed pusher which is attached to his head. Since the pusher is operated manually, the operator has to have a reasonably high degree of control over his neck muscles to properly coordinate the pushing of a desired amount of food from any given portion of the plate onto the spoon. In addition to pushing food onto the spoon, the pusher is used to close a switch located on the frame of the self-feeding device thereby initiating a spoon raising or spoon lowering operation. This operation required yet additional coordination on the part of the operator of the device.
In addition to requiring a relatively high degree of coordination, the self-feeding device of the foregoing patent necessitated the use of a somewhat awkward looking head set. In addition to being unattractive, the head set was somewhat uncomfortable and it was generally found objectionable by many of the potential operators of the self-feeding device.